Memorable moments in the Valley
From Little League to Super Bowls, memories were made
It didn’t matter where I was, covering a Central Falls High varsity football game or a state playoff baseball tilt at North Smithfield – if Tony Rainone saw me, he’d approach me and deliver his idea.
“Jon, Jon, I keep telling you, if The Times wants to sell more papers, you have to take my advice,” Rainone, the gentlemanly former Central Falls’ varsity grid head coach, would say. “Like you see in (a rival publication), you should write a column, and it should have 13 bullets about Blackstone Valley sports. What you see, your thoughts about a game or team.
It’s a great idea!
“And, here’s the kicker: Call Dozen.”
I responded as kindly as I could (despite the fact it happened so often it got to be annoying); I admitted it was a fine notion, but I didn’t have time to write such a column, being so busy with games and features, etc. I also confessed I never fancied myself much of a columnist.
But then we all found ourselves in the pandemic, and the state shut down schools, sports and some businesses. That left us as sports journalists scrambling for (hopefully) interesting stories to write.
So I once again traveled back in time in my mind, remembered and re-thought Rainone’s pitch. I figured, “You know what, Bake? Why not? It’ll make Tony happy.”
So here you are, the first installment of the Baker’s Dozen, featuring 13 of the most memorable sports moments of my 30-plusyear career with The Times and Call. It should be noted they come in no particular order:
it the Baker’s
* If any of you attended the R.I. Division III Super Bowl clash between Burrillville and Juanita Sanchez at Cranston Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, you’ll remember this, too.
Even R.I. Interscholastic League Executive Director Tom Mezzanotte labeled it a classic just moments after the miracle finish.
Throughout the course of the tilt, the Broncos had tried and failed to penetrate the staunch Cavaliers’ defense, though they produced one last gasp at the tail end of the game, one it trailed, 6-0.
With 3:08 remaining in regulation, then-junior Sanchez booter Dennis Gastel drilled a 27-yard field goal for that cushion, but senior quarterback Zach Lefebvre soon fashioned a drive for the ages. Eventually, with only 12 seconds left and most of the crowd standing on the bleachers, Lefebvre rifled a two-yard TD toss to Nick Deering by the right front pylon to knot the game at 6-6, but the ending got even more tense.
On the conversion attempt, one to seal the outright championship, then-junior Darren Jenks split the uprights, causing a frenzy on the field and in the stands. The officials, however, put a stop to that, whistling the Cavs for encroachment before the snap. Jenks, however, calmly regrouped and hammered the PAT home for the 7-6 victory.
Players and head coach Gennaro Ferraro admitted afterward that what made this victory all the more sweet was avenging a Bowl loss to Smithfield the year before.
* What makes the 2000 Division II baseball championship series pitting top-seeded Lincoln and second-ranked Johnston inside McCoy Stadium so memorable isn’t so much what happened on the field but what occurred just before Game 3 started.
Because I had problems finding a place to park that June evening, I arrived late to the entrance, the one which would allow me to stand near the field down the left-field line (or near the PawSox barbeque tent), as I always do at McCoy. It would also allow me to get quicker access to both teams’ lineups to keep score.
Frantic to get inside before the first pitch, I climbed the (at least) 12-foot, chain-link fence, propelled myself ever-so-carefully over the prongs above the metal bar (for obvious reasons) and decided not to climb down the other side but jump.
Now that was a stupid idea, as I had topsiders on, not sneakers. I immediately began hobbling, but I made my way out toward the field gate. To ease the pressure on my throbbing foot, I stood on the other, trying to keep my mind off the pain by concentrating on the action.
There, however, came another problem. So tight was the contest, it went extra innings, 14 to be exact, before the Lions eked out a thrilling 9-7 triumph to claim their second state title ever.
Turns out, I had covered all 14 on a broken foot, and only because I didn’t leave sooner.
Crazy.
* As the scores rolled in and Mount St. Charles head coach Mike Masterson tallied those of his team and Lincoln’s during this May 2019 Northern Division special playoff golf match, he could see the proverbial handwriting on the wall: His Mounties would not be attending the state team golf championships the following week.
It was right there on paper – the Lions held a three-stroke cushion with only the kids playing the No. 6 spots still on the course at Country View in Burrillville. You could tell by Masterson’s face, he knew it was over.
But then Mountie junior Ryan Lazarus strolled through the glass doors leading to the tavern area and delivered his card, one that revealed he had closed his round with a six-over 41; with that lifetime-best score, he had helped MSC stun the Lions, 165-166, and earn the third and last spot from the Northern Division.
“Wow. Geez, unbelievable!” the usually-reserved Masterson claimed.
* Prior to the start of the Division II girls swimming championships at Roger Williams University’s natatorium this past Feb. 22, Lincoln High head coach Tom DiIorio truly believed his squad had a chance to win the team crown, though Classical and Lincoln School would provide challenges.
Yet, with only one event left, the Lions found themselves in the unenviable position of having to win the final 400-yard freestyle relay to guard their three-point lead. The issue: The relay was seeded second behind the Purple’s.
On the far side of the pool, across from the scorers’ table, DiIorio watched the action, seemingly relegated to the fact his girls would fall short.
Suddenly, however, his mood changed. The Lynx started to chisel away at Classical’s once-sizeable lead; like the Lions, the Purple had to win the relay to claim the team crown.
In the end, Lincoln School sophomore Sonia Mlakar overtook talented finwoman Kendra Daily on the last 25, and the Lynx reigned in 3:47.02, while Classical took second (3:49.32) and LHS third (3:51.34).
During that final 50 between Daily, Mlakar and Lions’ freshman anchor Olivia Nault, DiIorio galloped over to assistant Matt Parenteau and yelled, “If Lincoln School wins, we win!”
That’s what happened, and that relay finish gave Lincoln the team championship, 299-298, over the Purple.
“I can’t believe it; I never thought it was possible,” DiIorio gushed after taking the usual coach’s championship plunge.
* I’ll never forget the night of Dec. 12, 2002, the date of the R.I. Division III Super Bowl clash between Lincoln and Shea at North Kingstown’s Anthony C. Perry Stadium.
Because of the wet and mucky conditions, the two combatants fought tooth-andnail for every yard they could muster, but they were tough to come by, as both defenses produced phenomenal tackle after tackle.
The score remained in a scoreless deadlock for most of the game, but the Lions finally broke through in the end when then-junior signal caller Matt Paradis turned a simple keeper into a 16-yard TD plunge with only 4:33 left in regulation.
When reminded of that paydirt recently, one that helped the Lions claim the Bowl, 6-0, Paradis claimed it was no cakewalk.
“I actually remember that play; it was a quarterback draw,” he said. “I faked to our running back, Alan Moreau, running to the left side, then booked around the right. I cut back across the grain, and they had outside contain, so I had to battle. I had to break at least three tackled to get unto the end zone … I still don’t know I did it.”
That TD actually gave veteran mentor Howie Catley his last state championship and Lincoln its first since 1981.
* I don’t remember much about Pitpiseth Men, except I loved watching him play goalkeeper for the Lincoln ice hockey team in the mid 1990s.
When I learned his story from co-head coach Teddie Polak, Men and his mom, how they as a family fled Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime, I gained all the more respect and admiration for them, their courage, what they stand for.
During their escape, there were times Mrs. Men believed she and her daughters would be raped and/or murdered by Pot’s soldiers, but they somehow made it to the states. Pit later met Polak, who introduced him to ice hockey, and the rest is history. It was one of the most fascinating stories I’ve ever written.
* When it was announced in September 2009 that Shea High senior Carolina Correa had been selected the Boys & Girls Club of America’s prestigious National Youth of the Year at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., BGC of Pawtucket CEO Jim Hoyt and his staff fashioned quite the “Coming Home” party for her by the club’s outdoor amphitheater.
Numerous state and city officials graced the event on Sept. 17, and for good reason: Weeks before, Carolina (pronounced Kara-LEE-nah) had become the only Rhode Islander ever to claim the Northeast Regional Youth of the Year honor. With the national tag, she became the first Ocean Stater and Latina to win the award, given annually by the BGCA and the Reader’s Digest Foundation.
The reasons for her triumph: Colombian-born, her family immigrated to Rhode Island when she was 12, though none could speak English. She joined the club soon after, developed a friendship with a girl who helped teach her English and she returned the favor by helping others at the club.
While tackling her education, she also worked part-time jobs to help her family.
At Shea, she became the senior captain of the girls’ swim team and a member of the Key Club, a community service organization, while earning status in the National Honor Society. She also worked at SHS Family Day and at the club, where she tutored children in the S.T.A.R. after-school program.
She was – and is – very well-spoken, which only helped her capture the laurel. Then again, so did her humility. A most memorable, beautiful, intelligent human being.
* Perhaps the most touching moment I’ve ever witnessed concerns a Lincoln High senior football player, David Du, coming to the emotional and spiritual aid of a precious little boy named Austin Chea, one whom doctors diagnosed with leukemia just 23 days after Austin’s sixth birthday.
At the behest of Lincoln Police Capt. Phil Gould, also one of Du’s football coaches back in October 2018, Du met Chea the following January, and the two immediately hit it off. The reason: Du had just overcome Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Gould figured the eldest could help the boy cope, provide hope.
I wrote a feature on how it all came to be, and Gould admitted during the research process that the two were destined to meet. First, Du lived just down the street from the Cheas, and when he discovered the kid he was asked to help was a neighbor, it blew not only his mind but Gould’s, too.
Second, when Austin’s dad (also named David) met Du, he kept staring at him from across the Chea living room, as Du looked extremely familiar. When the elder Chea asked Du if he wore L.L. Bean-made boots, the latter said, “Yes,” and the two quickly came to the realization they had seen each other in the hospital.
The kids would be undergoing chemotherapy at the same time.
It gets better. Du created a fundraising campaign for the boy called “Austin’s Army,” and it was designed to provide financial assistance for the parents, David and Vannary Peov. Upon further visits to the home, Vannary also learned the tandem’s birthdays are less than 24 hours apart.
Gould still calls all the common threads the two share “a miracle,” and I can’t blame him. He also noted the last he heard, Austin was feeling much better.
Just a beautiful story.
* It may have been perhaps the most thrilling sporting event of the 2011-12 school year, and certainly one I’ll never forget. That March, Cumberland coach Steve Gordon knew his team had a pretty good chance to win the state wrestling title, but it would be in for another typical battle with Hendricken.
The two clubs were rather close in points entering the clash at 195, one pitting the Clippers’ senior mainstay Tom Lacroix against formidable South Kingstown foe Ryan Smith.
“I had been talking to (Hawks’ mentor) Kevin Hennessey earlier, and we both kind of knew how it was going to go,” Gordon said recently. “I knew if Tommy won by a regular decision, we would tie Hendricken for the state (team) title, but if he majored him, we’d get the extra point and win it.
“I remember Tommy being up rather comfortably, 7-2, but the SK kid was on top in the last period. I could tell what Smith was thinking; he was going to let him up so Tommy would get the one-point escape and make it 8-2, but then he would immediately try to take him down and pin him for the win.
“The kid let him up, and I looked over at Hennessey, and he was just shaking his head,” he added, laughing. “As soon as he did, I knew it was over; Tommy took him down and rode him out the last 20 seconds to win the match by major decision, 10-2, so we got the bonus (team) point.”
With that major, the Clippers edged the Hawks for the crown by a point, leaving Gordon frantic.
“I wasn’t going to tell Tommy he needed to win my major decision before his match; I didn’t want that much pressure on him,” Gordon chuckled again. “I just told him to do the best he could and go out and win himself a state championship. I will also say Tommy’s no dummy. He knew what he needed to do and got it done.
“That was a wild finish, though!”
You bet, Stevie. You bet.
* Whenever I saw former North Smithfield phenom Sara Gendron, we’d talk about how hard it is for “independent swimmers” – that is, those who compete only in major championship meets but not dual meets like most schools – to excel.
Because indies don’t have a high school team to represent, they have to train with their USA Swimming-affiliated club squad, which is a far cry from the spirited scholastic competitions.
When she was a junior, she confessed, “It did bother me a little at the Bay View (Invitational) meet, seeing all those girls around me cheering for their teammates, their school, and I was all alone. I felt I was just swimming for myself.
“But I swam in high school because I wanted to prove to my classmates and other people at school that I can swim fast, that swimming is more than they think it is,” she added. “My school is so soccer-driven; everyone always talks about playing soccer or tennis, and they don’t understand all the work I put in with my club team (the Bryant University-based Budllogs Aquatics). They don’t see me compete, so maybe they don’t realize I train six days a week, at least three hours a day.”
She also confided in me she wanted desperately to win a state crown, but – as an 11th-grader – had to settle for third in the state in the 200 individual medley (2:10.85) and second in the 100 butterfly (58.23).
As a senior in 2018, however, the petite but strong and athletic Gendron finally earned what she had so desired, winning the state’s gold medal in the 100 butterfly with a lifetime-best clocking of 56.94. She also came close in the 200 IM (2:09.65), but had to settle for runner-up status.
Still, Gendron beamed after the triumph, and for good reason. She called it “Sweet payback.”
Athletic Director Matt Tek also made good on his promise to hoist a banner detailing Gendron’s achivements in the school’s gymnasium, and she got to pick the location.
Naturally, she’s now swimming at Bryant.
* Those of you who are Little League baseball fans should remember the headline just above the fold of the Friday, Aug. 9, 2013 issue of The Times’ Blackstone Valley Sports section, one that read, “Andrews Hits It A Country Mile.” Each capitalized letter was the color red, with the lower-case ones Lincoln blue.
The morning before, the Lincoln All-Stars had faced South Burlington, Vermont in a Little League New England Regional Tournament semifinal in Bristol, Conn., and it had been billed as a fantastic pitcher’s duel between Lincoln’s Kyle Marrapese and Vermont’s Ben Tate.
The contest lived up to its billing, as the two combined for 19 whiffs. What the fans didn’t expect, however, was for the massive first baseman Steve Andrews (who then stood at league 6-0 and 185 pounds at age 12) to wallop a three-run dinger over the centerfield scoreboard with two outs in the top of the fifth.
Skipper Matt Netto’s bunch had trailed, 2-1, at the time, so Andrews’ clout came at a mighty good time, as Lincoln’s eventual 5-2 victory clinched a berth in the ESPN-televised championship game the next night at 7.
“It went at least 280-290 feet,” Netto said of the bash, Andrews’ 10th of the season and second in consecutive days. “(Folks) had said it bounced at the edge of trees (far beyond the scoreboard). What a rip! Remember, this is when all the pressure’s on. It was a very low pitch, and he just golfed it out … That’s one of the gutsiest games I’ve ever seen.”
No question, Matt.
* I had the distinct pleasure of watching and writing about a young man compete for his Lincoln High swim team for four years before he graduated in June 2018, and I will never forget the joy I felt when I was around him.
Why? Ryan Fleming was no ordinary student-athlete. Because Ryan was born Autism, his parents did everything they could to mainstream him, get him the necessary educational systems necessary to allow him to live and interact to the very best of his ability as he grew.
I witnessed him do all that in and around a swimming pool – call it a microcosm of his life. As a freshman, he naturally was shy and didn’t interact as much with his teammates, but over the years, he blossomed into a young man who was always smiling and hellbent on succeeding in his 200- and 500-yard specialties, or even the 100 butterfly.
I actually went to his family’s home after Ryan’s senior year, and just two days following his and Team Rhode Island’s return from the Special Olympics USA Games in Seattle. There he captured three medals, including bronze in the 100-meter individual medley (PR of 1:16.60) and the 100-meter butterfly (lifetime-best 1:19.11).
After placing fifth in the 100 freestyle (personal-best 1:05.54), he took his final bronze in the 100 freestyle relay (1:18.39).
“I trained really hard on my transitions (turns) from the fly to back and back to breast,” Ryan grinned. “When I won the bronze medal, I couldn’t believe it! My goal before I left was to win at least one medal for the state of Rhode Island, and I did! I was so happy!”
That explains
all.
* Well, here we are. The 13th bullet, and I have so many more golden moments from around the Valley I can’t select just one more, but I can give you ones that will forever be in my heart.
Watching host Cumberland face Lincoln in the Little League Baseball, Inc.-sponsored D-IV Challenger Division giving area youngsters with assorted disabilities the chance to excel on the diamond was so uplifting.
It occurred at Garvin Field on Sunday, May 20, 2018, and my wife came with me to take photos. She too was touched at watching kids in wheelchairs and on crutches hitting the ball and wheeling down the basepaths, or lunging for a fly ball. Beautiful.
Then there’s the day in 1995 I discovered my swim coach at Seekonk High, Ellis Mayers, had decided to retire. I had spent a great deal of time with him since I first joined his Seekonk Dolphins’ youth swim team at age seven in 1968 – we experienced many triumphs together, including the 1979 New England team championship, and when I returned from a sportswriting gig in California in 1989, I asked him if he wanted a volunteer assistant.
I begged he give it one more season, not only for me as an assistant but outstanding swimmer Gary Jones, and to make it an even 30, but he had his mind made up. God bless you, Coach.
There’s also the astonishing death of one of Mayers’ best friends, legendary Cumberland High varsity swim coach and aquatic director Bruce Calvert; we found out in January 2016 he had suffered a massive heart attack at the tender age of 72, and that news hit both of us hard.
Finally, I’ll always recall how the North Smithfield’s icemen, with their backs to the wall, rallied behind head coach Paul Nadeau in Game 3 of the R.I. Division II Hockey Tournament at Brown University’s Thayer Arena on Monday night, March 28.
After suffering a dismal 4-3 loss in the middle tilt of the best-ofthree set, Noah Menard notched two goals and Riley Boucher one while netminder Deven Cote collected seven saves in the finale to help the Northmen repeat.
I remember being so happy North won it, first because you like to see local teams do well, and, second, because Nadeau’s bunch had worked so hard.
Whenever I see the huge photo of kids in white, green and gold uniforms under the banner and headline, “NORTH’MEN’ OF THE HOUR,” from the next day’s front page, I always look at the date, Tuesday, March 29, 2016.
That’s the morning I found out my father, Albert Baker, had died at age 90, mere hours after that victory. Call it bittersweet.